A view of the match between Iranian football clubs Persepolis and Naft Abadan at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on January 8, 2013

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Popular Iranian football team Persepolis has routed Naft Tehran 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals stage of the Hazfi Cup.
The match was played on Tuesday at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium with nearly 15,000 spectators in attendance.
Naft Tehran players started brightly and were given an early chance 14 minutes into the game when Amin Manouchehri shot the ball into the opponents’ net to open the scoring for the Tehran-based team.
The goal stunned Persepolis footballers and fans. A good spell of pressure from Naft woke the Reds up at last, and Mohammad Nouri equalized the match in the 26th minute.
Persepolis had an aggressive offensive attempt in the 31st minute, but did not manage to score in the period thanks to the shining performance of Naft’s goalkeeper Hamed Fallahzadeh, who defected a shot from Serbian midfielder Marko Perovic.
The match gained momentum after the break as the Reds started playing with much more purpose. Gholamreza Rezaei launched a wide shot in the 58th minute and Nouri sailed the ball into the back of Naft’s net with a beautiful header.
In the 75th minute, Hossein Mahini netted his penalty kick attempt to expand Persepolis’ advantage to 4-1. He had been brought down by Naft keeper in the penalty area.
Hadi Norouzi chipped the ball over Fallahzadeh in the 85th minute to clinch a 4-1 win for Persepolis.
The Reds will play against Zob Ahan in the quarterfinal round of Iran’s Hazfi Cup.
MP/MHB